Fresh Start
I just started reading the book From Strength to Strength by Arthur Brooks. I’m only on page 10, and I’ve already found two key pieces that let me know my dear friend was onto something when she lent me her copy.
“…adopt parts of life that will make you happy, even if they don’t make you special.”
Despite my best objectives I know that my ego and my desire to be special is a heavy hitter in my career decisions. There have been times along my career as a yoga teacher that I wasn’t happy with what I was doing. But teaching did always pump my ego and made me feel special.
“On average, the peak of creative careers occurs at about twenty years after career inception…”
This passage was presented more with a focus on the downslide. Like hey if you are more than twenty years in (I’m soon approaching 20 years of teaching) then you are in decline.
But I don’t see it that way. I’m like wow – let me bask in twenty years of deep education, work, refinement, and creative play. I’m at the top of the mountain and ready to take the green trail - the long, easy path. I have worked my ass off in this field to feel special, to be special. Enough.
In this instance, now is my time to teach and share yoga not because I need to, but because I want to. I am taking some outward shifts that show that change.
My online yoga studio is now being powered by Kuula. The simple, beautiful, user-friendly platform makes my job easier while enhancing the student’s experience. You’ll be able to pay as you go or continue an unlimited subscription. This switch has allowed me to take the pressure off my success and just supply what makes me happy.
I have also joined the team of Breathing Space DC to teach two Yoga Trapeze classes this Fall. I’ll be teaching a tween class (ages 11-15) and an adult class. Yoga Trapeze adds a fun element to asana practice that I sometimes forget. I love that it’s a very new way to return to an old physical space (641 Penn Ave. SE).
The bigger shifts though are internal. I’ve had it out for myself for a long time now to prove that I could turn the meaningfulness and the passion I have for yoga into something that made me special. But really, lay down the ego.
I am carving my fresh start where my creative endeavors get to flourish, but they don’t get to take up all the spaces I’ve forced them into.
A very smart person recently said to me, “I admire your entrepreneurial mindset, but I see you grasping. It’s not working.” I sat with this and noticed I was taking every creative dime and trying to make it a dollar. I need to just save my dimes. They add up to a wealth of happiness.